Double reed



April 24, 1945. A BmLHART l 2,374,579

DOUBLE REED Filed Sept. l5, 1942 INVENTOR. A mvo; o R/L HART ATTURNEY Patented Apr. 24, 1945 .DOUBLE REED .Arnold Brilhart, Great Neck,.N..Y., assignorto Arnold' B rilhart Ltd., a corporationl'ofNew York ., Applicationseptembcr 15,1942-,vSerial No. 458,357

(Cl. ,M+-'383) the 2oboe, eliminating 1 thenecess-ity @for flatten- 3.Claims.

n Thisinvention-.relates to. reeds for musical inv fstruments ofthe doublev reed atypeg. for example, bassoonsoboesaand Englishhorns.

' The "Primary: :purpose of the 'present invention is to .obviatef the.l objections- :and: disadVan---` .tages in respect to.. thewooden reedsfor musical. instruments ofthe:y double 1 Areed Vtype and to provide. .double reedsfwhich possessy important cult landtakes` time to condition the reed proping thesmall .metal tube onzwhich the reeds `are mounted.

The above and :other objects,:features and advantagesof i the invention wil-lube fully ,under- Vstood vfrom the. following descriptiom considered in connection with .the accompanying illustrative erlyin `respect,` to.v the moisture -content ythereon el 5 so vthat thereed is suitable -for use. .Moreover,

comeewetand -the openingfchanges beyond a tolerable limit.;` Moreover, when these reeds-are made o-fs wood, it` is diflicult vto provide-.in-thefl same reed,A icompanionf reedmembers. which properly match each .other and itis alsodifcult. to make reeds :of uniform' characteristics or to duplicate-reeds which have happened to satisfy `the wishes `of- --various musicians. AFur-ze.

ther, in1thecase of a double reed for a-'bassoom the part-whichy ts'over. the yair-supplypipe or neckbfwthefbassoon being initially substantially y'elliptical in crosssection must-be reamed out f in'order to tvover the end: ofrsaidl air-supply-il tube. Inthe 'oase of a doublereedfor an oboe,

the two reed parts made ofl Wood and combined to form thedouble reed forman opening which is approximately the shape of a flattened ellipse cordance with the present invention. .More.parz,1

`ticularly, the double reeds embodying the present i invention are formed by molding them of a lplastic, for example, Lucite,-Vinylitefi Bakelite, Celluloid, etc., whereby said reeds are uneifected bymoisture and therefore retain their shape and' rWherebyv'said reeds or the companion parts thereof can-be uniformor in accordance withthe musicians` preferences. Also, theAV double-reed can be easily vprovided with a circular-inner surface at the end thereof which isattachedto the"l air-inlet pipa-or to a metal `tube which connectsthe reed to the musical instrument, thus eliminating the Yreaming operation heretofore necessaryA in tting a lwooden double lreed to an "instrument such as a'bassoomfon-in the case of drawing.

- 'InV thedrawng y `Fig.` 1 is a `top-view of a-reed-embodyingthe present inventionattached to the air-supply tube --orneck-'of a bassoon;

Fig. 2 is a -side'view'of-thereedand :part'of 2the neck ofV the bassoon'illustratednFg. l;

3Y is a sectional view on the .line3:-3. of

Fig i is aperspective view of as-reedmember for-forming a double yreed .for abassoon;

` Fig. 5 is a-perspective view of a ldouble-reed for abassoon;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of a vdoublereed Vfor an oboe;

Fig. 7 is a side view of anvoboereed mounted in the end of theloboe;

- Fig. 8 is a top view'of an oboe reed-andthe endofthe oboe in'which the reed is mounted, parts being cut away-for the purpose of illustration;

HFig. 9-is a top View of-'an'oboey reed made in accordance with another forml ofthe invention, said reedbeing attached to' the oboe;

FigflO is a sectional-view ontheflinewl ll--Alll-of LkrFig. 11 is a view'of'an oboe Lreed member-for formingthereed illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. Referring now tothe; drawing invdetail -and v-first tothe bassoonreed I0 illustrated inl Figs.

l to y-saidreedis formed of twol reed members l2 -of identical construction,l one of said memjbers `being illustratedl in Fig. 4. Said reed mem lber `^l2 ismoldedbycany suitable molding operation of a suitable plastic, for example,"Lucite,

'Vinylite, Bakelite, Celluloid, cellulose acetate,

` etc., and comprises a y semi-cylindrical tubular part f'l4 yand ay vibratile tongue partiti. When two reedmembersll are combined to rform the double -reed fill illustrated in'vFigs. l to 3,-and 5,

said-doublereed comprises a molded-plastic body having a-hollow tubular `part defined bythe partsv *I4 of thecompanionmembers l2-,land afvibra'tile -tongue yformed 'by* the-tongue portion -I 6- of said companion reed'members. z`Inthe double -vreed ble reed into which the tubeT of the musical instrument is tted substantially to the forward end of said tubular part, that is at the point at which the laterally flaring tongue portions I6 merge into the tubular part. Edges I8 may be joined to each other in any suitable way, depending upon the nature of the plastic material used in forming the reed members, for example, by fusing` said edges to each other by heat or by a solvent, when the nature of the plastic permits of this, or by joining said edges by any suitable adhesive or adhesive-forming substance applied to said edges. As here shown, the double reed lil is provided with an enlargement 20 formed of a plastic or of any other suitable material positioned over the tubular part of the double reed, this enlargement providing a finger piece for facilitating the application to and removal of the reed from the tube T and serving also as additional means for reinforcing the securement ofr the two reed members together. yWhen enlargement 2ll is formed of a plastic, it is preferably molded over the reed in any suitable way, as by a second molding operation.

It will be understoodthat the vibratile tongue portions i6 of the reed are free from direct securement to each other, and that they aanvibrate and move relatively to each other; Said vibratile tongue portions i6 are Aoutwardly con- Vex, and being disposed with their inner concave surfaces in opposed or confronting relation, deline an opening 22 which leads to the-interior of the tubular part of the reed, the latter being in communication .with the interior of tube T for the passage of the air to the bassoon.,l VThe vibratile' tongue portions I6 taper in thickness to a suitably thin front edge portion and progressivelyincrease in Width Vfrom theirV juncture with the tubular part of the reed towardthe free front end of the vibratile tongue.- In the double reed, the tongue portions l of the companion reed members converge toward each other from their tubular parts.` p n Referring now to the Idouble reed 3Q yfor an oboe, as illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8, said oboe reed ,is'forrned substantiallyin the same way asv reed l except that its tubular part is .of smaller diameter and that its vibratile tongueisrna'rrower than the corresponding vparts of thebassoon reed. Said oboe reedv3is formedof vtwo identical reed members 32, each having a semicylindrical tubular part 3d and a vibratile tongue portion 36. Each reed member 32 is formed by molding the same of a suitable plastic as indicated abovewith reference to the bassoon reed l0, whereby twoof said reed` members 'can be readily combined to form a double oboe reed. It will be understood that the companion reed members 32 are secured together at their adjacent side edges to form the cylindrical tubular portion which extends rearwardly from the vibratile tongue of the reed, said vibratile tongue portions of the two reed members being free from direct securement to each other `whereby said vibratile tongue portions can vibrate and move with respect to each other. As in the case of the bassoon reed, the vibratile tongue portions 35 are outwardly convex, and being disposed in opposed confronting relation, they define an opening I322i at the forward end of the reed which communicates with the interior of the tubular part of the reed, the latter communicating with the inlet of the oboe. A cork or other gasket sleeve 4I! is fitted over-the tubular part of the reed for engagement in the inlet end E of the oboe. A collar 42 preferably formed of a plastic or of a thread wound around the tubular part of the reed adjacent the vibratile tongue thereof provides a finger piece and reinforces the securement of the tubular parts of the reed members to each other adjacent the vibratile tongue portions thereof.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 9 to l1, the oboe reed 50 is shown attached Ato the end of a metal' tube y.il which carries the cork or other gasket sleeve 5A which connects the reed to the inlet end E of the oboe. Said double reed 5U is formed of two reed members 52, one ofwhich is shown in Fig. 11. Reed member `52 is formed by molding the same from a suitable -plastic as referred to above in connection with reeds l0 and 30, but diers from the latter in that reed member 52 has a relatively short portion 54 leading rearwardly from the vibratile tongue portion 56. The vibratile tongue portions 56 of a pair of reed members 52 define the vibratile tongue of .the double reed and being outwardly convex define an opening 58 at the forward tip of the reed which leads to the interior of the double reed and from the latter to the interior of the metal tube 5L The companion reed members 52 can be secured together to the outer end portion of the metal tube 5I substantially in the same way as heretofore in the attachment of wooden reed members to the small metal tube of the oboe, for example, by winding a cord 60 around the rearwardly projecting end portions B2 of the two reed members. It will be noted that reed member 52 is provided witha relatively short semi-cylindrical tubular part 64 of such diameter that when the companion reed members 52 are combined for forming the double reed, two cylindrical portions 64 of the companion reed members form a cylindrical portion in which the outer end portion of tube 5I ilts, so that it is unnecessary to flatten said outer end portion as was heretofore Vnecessary when the reeds were made of Wood. If desired, the edges of the cylindrical portion 54 of the companion reed members can be secured to each other as described above with V,respectto the securement of the tubular parts of reeds Hl and 3U. It will be understood .that the vibratile tongue portions 56 of reed 50 taper in thickness toward the forward ends thereof and that they flare laterally toward their forward ends, respectively.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the double reeds and in reed members for double reeds embodying the present incomposed of opposed relatively movable vibraf tile, longitudinally separable and contacting portions dening an opening extending vto l'thev interior of said tubular ipart.

2. A double reed for a musicalV instrument of the double'reed type, said reed comprising a plastic body having substantially semi-cylindrical portions integrally united at theiredges to form an integral, hollow, substantiallyfcylindrical part and having extending from one end thereof a pair of vibratile tongues composed of opposed relatively movable vib'ratile longitudinally separate land contacting portions dening an opening extending to the interior of said tubular part.

3. A double reed for a musical instrument of the double reed type, said reed comprising a plastic body having substantially semi-cylindrical portions integrally united at their edges 10 to form an integral, hollow, substantially cylindrical part and having extending from one end thereof a pair of vibratile tongues composed of opposed relatively movable vibratile longitudinally separate and contacting portions defining an opening extending to the interior of said tubular part and a plastic enlargement surrounding and reinforcing said tubular part.

ARNOLD BRILHART. 

